As is well known, the various electronic circuits of a computer are arranged on printed circuit boards, which are also referred to as "card". In principle, all parts and circuits could be arranged on a single card, but that is not practical. In practice, often use is made of a construction whereby a card designated by the term of "motherboard" is provided with a multiplicity of plug-in connectors, into which the edge connectors of other, specific function cards can be plugged to connect those function cards with the motherboard. An example of such a specific function card is the video card, on which the circuits are accommodated which, succinctly stated, provide the signals to be supplied to a monitor that are required for displaying an image on the monitor.
An advantage of such a construction is that such specific function cards can be individually developed by specialized companies. In case of a defect, a function card can be simply replaced, and it is also possible to replace a function card with a later version if it is desired to improve the performance of the computer.
To be able to profit from these advantages, it is necessary that different types of motherboards and different types of function cards be mutually compatible. This means, among other things, that the dimensions of the connector attached to the motherboard is compatible with the connector attached to the specific function card, and that the corresponding pins in the connector terminals always carry the same signals. Further, the shape of the function cards should be configured such that they "fit" in a standard housing, and further the points of attachment should correspond between the mating connections.
To achieve such compatibility, various manufacturers of motherboards and function cards have made mutual agreements laid down in "standards".
There are presently multiple standards that apply to motherboards and function cards, as well as to the connectors associated therewith. An example of a standard for a motherboard is ATX version 1.0, and an example of a standard for a video card is AGP version 1.0. These designations are known to those skilled in the present art.
For the motherboard, a new standard is presently being developed, which is designated "NLX". The standard NLX, at least as regards the mechanical specifications, is not compatible with the standard ATX. The differences are such that the current AGP video cards are not usable in combination with the new NLX motherboards.
Consequently, there is a need for a new video card which satisfies the AGP standard and which is useful in combination with the new NLX motherboards.
Of course, it would be possible to develop a new video card which is useful solely in combination with the new NLX motherboards, but which is not useful in combination with the motherboards according to the ATX standard. A disadvantage of such an approach, however, is that a producer of AGP video cards must manufacture two types, viz. a first type usable in combination with the motherboards according to the ATX standard and a second type usable in combination with the motherboards according to the NLX standard.
A feature of one embodiment of the invention is to provide an AGP video card which is useful both in combination with NLX motherboards and in combination with ATX motherboards.
Another embodiment of the invention relates to an NLX motherboard adapted to the AGP video card.